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Thursday, 12 March 2015

Spring Celebration

Spring Celebration, Royal Ballet School, Central School of Ballet, Elmhurst School for Dance and English National Ballet School, Linbury Studio @ ROH - reviewed on 7th March

Taking place instead of a 2015 edition of Young British
Dancer of the Year, Spring Celebration
demonstrated the skills of students at four leading UK ballet schools – the
Royal Ballet School (RBS), Central School of Ballet, Elmhurst School for Dance
and English National Ballet School. Following an informal ballet class
conducted onstage while audience members took their seats, RBS director
Christopher Powney described the evening's value in terms of training
institutions "collaborating, not competing". Such collaboration was
evident most particularly in the bill’s finale, a new piece of choreography by
Michaela Polley featuring dancers from all four schools.

The evening’s highlight came in the form of David Bintley’s
vibrant Orpheus Suite performed by
students from Elmhurst. To jazzy music of the same name, male dancers showed
their athleticism in an array of dynamic and high-energy leaps and spins. The
school also excelled in Ana Garcia’s Transito,
a flamenco piece featuring rapid footwork and beautiful live guitar
accompaniment.

Liam Scarlett’s Classical
Symphony – which I didn’t particularly enjoy in the Royal
Ballet School’s annual matinee last year – worked well in the programme as
a showcase of British training. RBS students demonstrated their sparkling
technique and were led expertly by a captivating and expressive Leticia Dias
Domingues.

Polley’s Nexus
provided a fitting end to the evening and was remarkably slick considering the
four schools had only come together the day before. To an upbeat score by Philip
Feeney, the virtuosic work showed both contemporary ballet and young British
dancers at their best.